Penacook Reservoir with Mount Chocorua, Mount Belknap and Gunstock Mountain in the background
I found another great, little hike in the Concord area the other day which brought me to the top of Jerry Hill on the western side of Concord, NH. Jerry Hill is approximately 712 feet at the summit and has some cool features ranging from an older lookout or fire tower site to nice mountain vistas. The easiest access to Jerry Hill is at the Marjory Swope Park trailhead. There’s also a map for this area on Concord’s facilities site and can be accessed here.
From the parking area, I headed left from the trailhead and found the trail split quickly into the “blue” loop. I took another left approaching the loop in a clockwise direction. The trail climbed gently and right away, I could tell the trail network was very well maintained and visibly blazed.
Wildlife encounters included two garter snakes and one small toad
Some wildflower encounters
Near the southern point of the blue loop, I came to a trail junction where the yellow trail (on the right) ascended to the summit of Jerry Hill. At this point, I split away from the blue trail and hiked up the yellow trail. After a short time, I made it to another intersection and a trail sign. Continuing straight would bring me over the summit and going left (west onto the orange trail) would bring me by Gilfillan Rock and a “Mountain Vista”.
At this point, I decided to take a detour from my initial route to explore the Gilfillan Rock and the Mountain Vista. I found the Gilfillan Rock maybe a hundred feet down the orange trail on the right. It was basically a large, short ledge ran parallel to the trail. It is named after a carving “Gilfillan” which is carved in its side. It’s believed to represent a young boy who passed away in the 1890s since Jerry Hill was a favorite destination of the school kids back then. On the top of the rock, there are many other carvings of surnames as well, but none as prominent as “Gilfillan”. There’s a small memorial and explanation on a post in front of Gilfillan Rock.
Gilfillan Rock
The Gilfillan Rock Story
Just past Gilfillan Rock is a small clearing with a bench and a view finder image. There are nice views out to the west and Crotched Mountain is easily seen. Mount Monadnock is also easy to make out on a clear day but it was too hazy to find while I was there. After exploring for a bit, I backtracked the orange trail back to the yellow trail and continued on my planned loop.
Views to the west, Crotched Mountain the left, Pat’s Peak on the right
Back on the yellow trail, I passed what I considered to be the high point on the mountain and then quickly came to the old lookout tower location. All that’s left from the tower are the four foundation blocks that were near flush with the ground. It’s not known if it was ever used for a fire observation tower or not. It has been placed on the “official” excel spreadsheet as a “footnote” or a tower location that needs more info to determine if it should be officially added or not. The spreadsheet can be found here.
Lookout Tower Foundation Blocks. Note the yellow trail crosses right through it’s location.
Tower foundation block, not as tall as a a traditional fire tower foundation block.
After passing the tower location, the trail descended quickly and I came to a viewpoint to the northwest. The side of the hill had been cleared so that you could easily see Mount Kearsarge. After taking in the views for a few minutes, I continued down the yellow trail where it ended at the blue trail on the north point of the blue loop.
Mount Kearsarge to the northwest
Heading clockwise on the blue loop brought me to the best viewpoint of the day. It was a large clearing with a panoramic sized view that swept from the northwest to the northeast skyline. You could see the whole Penacook Reservoir with Chocorua, Belknap and Gunstock in the background. The blue trail then lead me back to my starting point at the Marjory Swope Park trailhead and parking area.
Penacook Reservoir with Mount Chocorua, Mount Belknap and Gunstock Mountain in the background
Mount Belknap (right) with Gunstock peaking over it’s western shoulder
Left: from Concord’s trail maps
Right: My Strava GPS
This lunchtime trek was roughly 1.5 miles in all. It provided a loop hike option (which I love loop hikes), multiple viewpoints and lots of historical features to explore. I was impressed by how well the trails were maintained and blazed which made it easy to move swiftly in the short time I had at lunch. I would highly recommend anyone in the area to check this park and trail system out!
This blog is a New Hampshire Day Hiker’s Blog that may be of interest to hikers in the New England region. Enjoy! http://livefreeandhikenh.blogspot.com/
Source:
http://livefreeandhikenh.blogspot.com/2017/05/jerry-hill-and-marjory-swope-park-in.html
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